Winding device for lay flat style hose

ABSTRACT

The invention provides a unique winding device specifically for lay flat style hose. The winder rotates either clockwise or counter clockwise via center supporting axis shaft inserted into a universal mounting bracket. Depending on the placement or spacing of described pins into the supporting bar, plurality of spacing options allow for any connector size, style, width, type or configuration of hose to be centered and wound in any standard or custom method. The hose winder produces tightly wound circular coiled lay flat types of hose in end-to-end or center-first (referred herein as “firefighter” style) with ends exposed and adjustable for any size or style of hose connectors. The wound hose can then be simply and easily pulled from the winding device in a tightly wound coil.

REFERENCES CITED BY CLASS 1089265 March, 1914 Ridley 242/86. 2396451 March 1946 Warkentin 242/86. 2869800 January, 1959 Eden 242/532. 2933262 April, 1960 Fish 242/86. 2960279 November, 1960 Little 242/86. 3124321 March, 1964 Rylott et al. 242/86. 3254862 June, 1966 Bates et al. 242/471. 3933180 October, 1973 Carter et al. 138/89. 3946964 March, 1976 Zinser 242/86. 3956051 April, 1972 Carter et al. 156/429. 3958531 April, 1974 Carter et al. 118/101. RE29112 December, 1975 Carter et al. 156/156. 4057198 November, 1977 Whitfield 242/532. 4117991 October, 1978 Johnson 242/532. 4198010 April, 1980 Knapp 242/86. 4265414 May, 1981 Spradling 242/532. 4266740 May, 1981 Ramos et al. 242/532. 4280672 July, 1981 Santos et al. 242/534. 4473196 August, 1982 Sammann 242/390. 4592519 June, 1986 Peacock 242/532. 4723714 February, 1988 Lucas 239/744. 4770361 September, 1988 Maeda et al. 242/532. RE33746 February, 1990 Lucas 239/744. 5033690 July, 1991 McIver 242/532. 5205509 April, 1993 Noggle 242/86. 5505404 April, 1996 Dubreuil 242/532. 5566901 October, 1996 Wilder 242/532. 6027066 February, 2000 Street 242/532. 6056478 May, 2000 Martin et al. 405/168. 6068210 May, 2000 Risa et al. 242.532. 6206317 March, 2001 Harvestine 242/395. 6328244 December, 2001 Baysinger 242/390. 6332586 December, 2001 Risa et al. 242/530. 6622957 March, 2002 Fleming et al. 242/532. 6929212 August, 2005 Madrzak et al. 242/526.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Many hose roller designs exist. Existing designs can be divided between those that roll the hose up and intend in-place storage of rolled hose, and those that intend for the removal and storage of the rolled hose separate from the hose roller. Of the prior art hose rollers intending the removal and storage of the wound hose, there are none that satisfy the criteria of easy removal, ability to roll various styles, widths and configurations, adjustment for a plurality of connector styles and sizes and easy, one person operation into various wound coil configurations. In general, a problem with prior art is that they are not suitable for universal applications and are complicated. In addition, prior art may be difficult for one man to operate and generally lack portability and efficiency of operation. The present inventive subject matter is simplistic in operation and one operator easily performs all adjustments.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,622,957 relates to a hose winder for coiling hose, particularly firefighting hose, comprising a fixed back plate with a rotating hub, a plurality of tines and an inner plate having a plurality of holes through which the tines protrude. The hose winder produces consistently circular coiled hose and the fire hose can be pushed away from the back plate by the inner plate, via foot pedal, moving the fire hose away from the back plate for easy removal of the fire hose by a single operator. The design complexity, operative degree of difficulty and extremely long proficiency learning curve limits its practical use. As obviated by detailed descriptive statements such as, “ . . . the possibility of tip-over should be considered . . . ” “ . . . apparent to those of skill in the motor arts . . . ” “ . . . significant practice is required . . . ” and various other notations that indicate significant learning and practice are required to perform all the complexities required to operate the mechanism. To with, the device does not meet its own combined criteria for, “ . . . easy removal, ability to roll various sizes and styles of hose, one-person efficient operation, minimized risk of uncoiling . . . utilized in field operation . . . ” and fails to produce a “firefighter” style hose coil that is wound from the center.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,901 discloses a hose winding method and device for use in connection with collapsible hose, such as fire hose. A self-supporting, stand-alone support structure is provided with an elongated crankshaft extending the width thereof. One end of the crankshaft includes a yoke for receipt of a hose couple, and the other end of the crankshaft includes a handle for turning the yoke such that the hose is wound about the yoke. A hose guide is provided upstream of the yoke and includes a stationary hose engagement portion which frictionally engages the hose to force water out of the hose and also to flatten the hose. The hose winder configuration allows for hoses to be wound at a variety of locations and on a variety of terrains. U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,901 is operable by a single person; however, without a guide or back plate for the hose to wind against, it fails to prevent uncoiling. Further, this design fails easy adaptability for various connectors, sizes of hose and methods of winding such as “firefighter” style winding. This failure is specifically mentioned in subsequent prior art design descriptions as “easy universal adaptability criteria.”

U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,509 describes an apparatus arranged for selective securement to a receiver socket, wherein the apparatus includes a generally “S” shaped support beam mounting a crank handle at a forward end thereof to rotatably secure a fire hose thereabout. The crank handle includes an extension leg member secured to the crank handle, including an “L” shaped lock leg mounted to the extension leg to secure the hose thereto in a winding operation. The invention further includes a hose-mounting bracket, wherein the extension leg is removable relative to the crank arm and securable to the mounting bracket to permit securing and storage of the hose for ease of transport thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,509 addresses the uncoiling issue; however, it does this through cumbersome spring-loaded arms that must stay with the coiled hose or be removed, in an additional operation requiring additional labor resources. This design also fails aforementioned “easy universal adaptability criteria.”

U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,964 describes an apparatus for rolling a collapsed hose into a roll that includes a frame having a pair of spaced-apart side rails and a crank for rolling the hose between the side rails. One side rail includes a keyed opening which receives the shaft of the crank and an axially extending spaced-apart pin on the shaft when the shaft is in a keyed orientation relative to the opening. The shaft of the crank is borne by both side rails and the axially extending pin cooperates with the shaft to engage a collapsed hose, which is wound about the shaft and pin by cranking a handle portion on the shaft outside the side rails. When the hose is rolled, the shaft and pin are brought into keyed alignment with the opening in one of the sidewalls and the crank is removed, permitting the rolled hose to be lifted from the frame. U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,964 addresses the uncoiling issue with the use of a side bar on either side of the hose coil being wound. However, this method limits its usefulness to one particular hose size and requires someone to physically pull the coiled hose from between the two side rails.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,960,279 describes a hose roller comprising a frame, including a plate with a planar surface and a wheel rotatably mounted on the frame. The wheel includes a circular disk disposed in a circular opening in the plate with the disk having a face, which is co-planar with the planar surface. A stud is mounted on the face of the disk adjacent to the periphery of the disk and a hub is retractably mounted on the axis of rotation of the wheel. The hub is movable between a first projected position and a second retracted position by means of a crank arm. U.S. Pat. No. 2,960,279 while providing a back plate upon which to wind the hose and keep it from un-coiling, ultimately fails to prevent uncoiling because its hub can only be removed, via lever, operated from the opposite side of the apparatus as the winding occurs. This requires an additional person to perform hub removal; otherwise the coiled hose will tend to fall and unwind. Additionally, the pressure from winding makes manual removal of the hub difficult. Finally, the single tine design will often produce egg-shaped coils, rather than the desired and easier to store round-shaped coils and fails the “easy universal adaptability criteria.”

U.S. Pat. No. 2,396,451 describes a hose reel which has a rectangular frame upon which is mounted a shaft which is rotated by a handle on one end of the shaft. A first disc is attached to the shaft on the end opposite the handle. A plate and a pin are mounted on the face of the first disc. Pivoted brackets secure a retainer disc to the first disc. The shaft is secured to the frame by bearings. The hose is fastened around the pin and then wrapped over the plate. As the shaft is rotated, the hose is reeled between the first disc and the retainer disc into a flat, doughnut-like roll. This is cumbersome and fails the “easy universal adaptability criteria.”

U.S. Pat. No. 1,089,285 describes a hose reel comprising a frame having a guide wall and a winding shaft arranged with one end extending through the wall and provided with an attaching device for engaging one end of a hose. The device also comprises means to turn the winding shaft with its attaching device and a forming element mounted for movement to a position parallel with and spaced from the guiding wall and also adapted to be opened outwardly from the wall to permit the removal of a coiled hose from the attaching device. Once again, this is cumbersome, time consuming to operate and fails to meet “easy universal adaptability criteria.”

U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,089,265 and 2,396,451 provide for the positive guiding of the hose while being wound with a hinged door that covers the exposed side of the hose during winding. However, this process requires an additional step both before and after winding and must be separately adjusted for each size of hose being wound and is limited to sizes for which it is specifically designed. Only one hose coupler size can be used.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,010 describes an apparatus for winding canvas fire hose into a compact coil comprising a rotatably mounted winding disc for coiling the hose, an electric drive assembly for rotating the winding disc, and a mobile base with an offset leg arrangement for supporting the winding disc and drive assembly. The winding disc is mounted for rotation about a generally horizontal rotational axis and is provided with two support members in the form of a flat support plate and an offset guide pin for supporting a coupling end of the hose while the hose is coiled around the coupling by rotation of the disc. This design fails to meet aforementioned “easy universal adaptability criteria.”

U.S. Pat. No. 3,124,321 describes an apparatus for winding a fire hose having interlocking coupling members at opposite ends comprising a pair of spaced tines radially spaced for rotating one of the coupling members about an axis extending laterally through substantially its center of gravity and being arranged to align the center of gravity of the coupling member with the axis thereby being dynamically balanced upon rotation thereof. The apparatus further comprises a means for aligning the first edge of the hose radially from the axis as the hose is being wound to facilitate the winding of the hose upon itself. The resulting wound hose coil has the leading coupler protruding from the center of said coil that limits storage methods.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,198,010 and 3,124,321 each provide a back plate for guiding the wound hose as well as motorized operation, but do not provide a means of removing a compressed hose from the tines nor does it ensure the formation of a circular shaped coil after winding.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,869,800 describes a hose-winding device comprising a frame, a rotatable winding drum mounted on the frame and a means for rotating the drum. The drum comprises a pair of axially aligned shafts one of which is engaged by the rotating means, a pair of spaced confronting disks mounted rigidly one on the inner end of each of the shafts, with one of the shafts being slidable axially inwardly toward and outwardly from the inner end of the other shaft whereby the disks may be separated laterally into open roll-removing position. The invention further comprises means for preventing the outward movement of the axially slidable shaft and hose engaging means disposed on the confronting sides of the disks, longitudinal adjustment means on the slidable shaft engageable by the means for preventing the outward movement of the shaft, thereby allowing of varying the inward or closed position of the slidable shaft and the resulting spacing between the pair of confronting disks. This device provides a two-sided bobbin for positive winding of the hose; however, this apparatus again requires separate adjustment for each size hose being wound and requires a disassembly of the apparatus to remove the wound hose.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present inventive subject matter relates to equipment for winding lay flat style hose or the like and more particularly to a unique, variable and adjustable size width and configuration winding apparatus especially adapted to a coil lay flat hose and the like by a single operator no matter of configuration, width or couple style.

a. The present inventive subject matter is the result of over 22 years experience working with winding and unwinding lay flat style hose during daily work commitments, transferring fluids and experimenting with enumerable, vastly diversified practices and procedures.

b. Many winding reels are marketed but they require the hose to remain on the reel for storage which is expensive and cumbersome. Winding devices have been patented but not marketed or available because they are complex, expensive and fail to provide one-person operation. The present inventive subject matter is in use to wind lay flat hose in daily work commitments transferring fluids and working with different lengths and widths of lay flat hose. Previous methods only provide labor-intensive hand rolling and unwinding of bulky lay flat hose and the current invention allows any lay flat hose to be coiled in a standing, ergonomically correct position. The resulting convenient coiled hose is simply and easily removed from the invention and stored for the next use.

c. Using a remote mounting system, the winder can be applied to numerous mounting and the design allows different hose widths, lengths or types of coupling devices and is suitable for any industry that uses lay flat style hose.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present inventive subject matter relates to a universal hose winder for coiling unlimited widths, types, styles and lengths of hose and connectors for any application and comprising a rotating bar containing a plurality of mounting holes for multiple adjusting a pair of protruding pins. The winder rotates either clock wise or counter clockwise via center supporting axis shaft inserted into a universal mounting bracket. Depending on the placement or spacing of said pins into the supporting bar, plurality of spacing options allow for any connector size, style, width, type or configuration for hose to be centered and wound in any standard or custom method. The hose winder produces tightly wound circular coiled lay flat types of hose in end-to-end or center-first (referred herein as “firefighter” style) with ends exposed and adjustable for any size or style of hose connectors. The wound hose can then be simply and easily pulled from the winding device in a tightly wound coil. All prior art was designed for only fire hose and fail the “easy universal adaptability” criteria. All inventive designs further fail flexibility of use, to with they can only wind hose in an end-to-end manner. The present inventive subject matter addresses all types of lay flat style of hose, widths and styles or attached connectors. The requirement of mounting spools on which hoses are mounted creates inefficiency and difficulty in removing a wound hose from the prior art winding devices. This results in multiple personnel for removal of the wound hose from the winder. The current invention requires no backing plates, pedals, guides, removal plates or bulky and heavy mounting devices. Thus, the present inventive subject matter is a simple, efficient and universal device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4 viewing full views of embodiments of inventive lay flat style hose winder. Comprises FIG. 1 universal adaptable slip fit mounting base. FIG. 2 is axle shaft comprising the support and rotation of FIG. 3 by means of attachment of FIG. 2 to FIG. 3 by predrilled holes comprises female threads; FIG. 2 has male threads or any other suitable means of attachment whatsoever. Also including FIG. 4 are mounting adjustable pins of approximate size ½ inch by 6 inches in length with protruding male threads or applicable varied length, diameter and fastening or composition depending on application and by any means whatsoever. FIG. 3 comprises a bar with plurality of receiving mounting holes with or without threads depending on application adapting universal placement of FIG. 4 to receive numerous applications and attached by any means whatsoever. The inventive lay flat style hose comprising nine combinations of pin placement. FIGS. 3 and 4 adapt to variable applications of winding ability and conformity by spacing pins FIG. 4 further or closer to axis or off set in nine combinations are possible to allow multiple applications.

TO ACCEPT MULTIPLE APPLICATIONS

It will be easily understood by those skilled in art, multiple applications of lay flat style hose by adapted spacing of mounting pins comprising of rotation in a clockwise or counter clockwise direction by operator power or adapted electric, gas or any other possible means whatsoever and within the spirit of the subject matter.

WINDING OPERATION

To initiate winding procedure, spacing pins FIG. 4 are adapted to appropriate holes in FIG. 3. Lay flat style hose to be mounted would then be centered onto either of mounting pins FIG. 4 for “firefighter” style winding or spacing pins spaced in one of 9 variations to allow “end-to-end” winding with lay flat hose coupler spaced between spacing pins FIG. 4 rotated by operator in a clockwise or counter clockwise direction by hand power or alternative motor power applied in any applicable form. The completed, tightly wound coil is then simply and easily removed from the winding apparatus by operator pulling the coiled lay flat style hose from winding device. The inventive subject matter being thus described will be obvious to apparatus winding variations possibilities or the composition of winding device composition of material not to be required as a departure from the spirit and scope of the inventive subject matter and the scope of above claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present inventive subject matter is directed to a various size, length, width of lay flat style hose winder comprising a mounting bracket adapted to receive the rotating axel shaft which supports the attachment of a ridged bar of material with a plurality of threaded receiving mounting holes for hose-mounting adjustable extruding pair of pins. Unlike any other prior art, the present inventive subject matter encases the lay flat hose connector inside the winding coil at time of mounting and winding adjustments of the said pins allow universally configured spacing for a true, tightly wound coil with no regard to coupling variations, sizes or widths or configurations. The simplicity of present inventive subject matter allows the threaded bar to act as a mounting aide reinforcing the lay flat hose while being wound. Whereas with any and all prior art, easy access to remove said finished wound hose is not easy or accessible. By means of being simply and easily slid off of the two adjustable mounting pins in a coil and any configuration desired, the present inventive subject matter features simplistic advantages compared to any prior art. By encasing the beginning coupler there is added simplicity after wound coil is removed with no regard to width, exact type, length or coupling style of said hose assembly. It is another advantage and feature of the inventive subject matter to provide simplistic and universal mounting from a self-supporting, stand-alone structure to receiver mounting on any stationary or mobile platform by the use of mounting bolts, welding or any attachment and whereas the present inventive subject matter features numerous mounting possibilities. The use of only one main embodiment of said winding device can be easily attached to any of the remote receiving brackets determined by the specific mounting application. Further, a feature and advantage not possible with prior art due to the simplistic, universal design that allows the present inventive subject matter to be operated with a basic two-hand reeling motion.

Yet another feature and advantage not possible with prior art is the extremely short operator learning curve in that any person familiar with winding lay flat style hose and associated coupling devices can master the present inventive subject matter in just a few minutes of use. Potential operators can acquire skill of use by reading a short provided instruction sheet or by simply using the present inventive subject matter one time and in minimal time. Previous art specifically states, “Significant practice is required” to become proficient in the use of devices described in said previous art. The placement and spacing of the main embodiment receiving pins will allow the operator to alternately wind any type or style of lay flat hose from the center of the lay flat hose with both fastening connectors exposed at the completed wound coil referred to as “firefighter” style of coil winding meaning the operator can uncoil this style with less effort when the mentioned wound coil is to be used. No prior art allows universal means and simplicity of use and application as the present inventive subject matter by various placement of mounting onto mentioned application. 

1. What I claim as my invention is a unique, simplistic utility designed for coiling and easy removal of lay flat types of hose in various lengths, widths and coupling styles and the utility of this device embodies a bar rotating on a center axis comprising a plurality of mounting holes for a pair of moveable pins to contact the hose and with different placement or spacing of said pins, with allow mounting in various application of lay flat types of hose with no regard to winding style (end-to-end or firefighter style) connector type, configuration, width or direction of wind and powered by hand, motor or any other means whatsoever. 